Chapter 8: Cheating Slightly
Noel watched Shannon nervously from around the corner to the kitchen. She was sitting at the breakfast bar eating waffles, a box of opened pop tarts on the stool beside her. He was about to go over to her, when Russell appeared through the other door and sat himself down beside her, stealing one of her pop tarts in the process and giving her a cheeky wink as he handed the box back to her.
“Heya Gorgeous!” Noel rolled his eyes, Russell wasn’t shy. “What on Earth could you be reading that’s so interesting?”
“Why?” Shannon asked not looking up from whatever she was reading, her tone vacant.
“Ooh, defensive!” Russell chuckled, then paused and feigned horror. “It’s not…Fifty Shades of Grey is it?!”
His comment earned a soft laugh from Shannon, but she was clearly still more interested in her book than in Russell’s advances. “No, it’s not…If you must know, I’m reading The Hunchback of Notre Dame… it’s a favourite of mine…I also love the Disney adaptation.”
“You like fairy tales!” Russell’s tone was amused. “In other words, you like stories and characters that are, in exact terms… full of crap.”
“Fairy tales are not full of crap.” Shannon turned to face Russell now, frowning slightly.
“They spoon-feed young children a load of bollocks about princes, princesses, knights in shining armour, magic, good always winning, and happily ever after’s that don’t exist.” Russell continued, clearly exasperated, but still amused and very clearly attracted to Shannon.
“They also give us something we need as children. Something we need more and more of as we grow up, Russell.” Shannon replied, picking up her book and her pop tarts and sliding off her stool.
“What’s that?” Russell smirked as she gave him a final look before walking out the door he’d come through.
“Hope, Russell.” Shannon replied with an ever so sad sigh. “They give us hope.”
***
Noel waited for Russell to vanish before going after Shannon. He knew exactly where she was going… her hide-out. He snuck to the bush that hid her hidden cubby, lifted the branch to reveal the entrance, and crawled inside. Where before the door had been open, it was now closed. Softly, Noel knocked on the door and listened intently to the sounds of her coming to open the Hobbit-sized door.
He chuckled quietly at the shocked expression on her face when she opened the door to find him waiting to be let in.
“Hey.” Noel smiled as she let him in and closed the door behind him.
“Hi…” Shannon seemed distracted today.
Noel waited until she had flopped back down onto her pile of cushions before speaking. “Rough day?”
Shannon smirked up from her sketch of a rose at him. “You’ve no idea.”
Noel grinned back at her. “Well, that’s nothing a bit of Disney couldn’t fix!”
Shannon’s smile was soft and warm as she replied. “You took the words right out of my mouth.”
“Funny,” Noel smirked again. “I didn’t even kiss you.”
Shannon cocked her head to one side, regarding him carefully. “Meatloaf?”
Noel started slightly. “You got my reference? That’s…amazing!”
“Well…apparently we have more in common than we both originally thought…” Shannon smiled at him sweetly, retrieving her laptop from a bag to her right and set up a movie on it for them to watch. She squashed into the bean bag with Noel as the movie started, whispering, “I like it.”
Noel wrapped a warm arm around her shoulders and rested his head against hers. “Me too, Shan… me too.”
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Pop Tarts, Brand, and Her
FanfictionNoel Fielding needed to find love again. He found it when he saw Her. He never expected to be introduced to Her by Julian...or have to compete for her heart with his friend and fellow comedian Russell Brand! Will he win her heart and her hand? Or wo...
